Snapping rolls for a corn picker



July 7, 1964 E. K, KARLSSON ETAL SNAPPING ROLLS FOR A CORN PICKER Filed Sept. 26, 1962 United States Patent O 3,139,887 SNAIPING RLLS FOR A CORN PICKER Eiof K. Karlsson, East Moline, and Ralph L. Sutton, Rock Island, Ill., assignors to International Harvester Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of New -Iersey Filed Sept. 26, 1962, Ser. No. 226,223 3 Claims. (Cl. 13G-5) This invention is related to agricultural apparatus, and more specifically to a new configuration for the snapping rolls utilized in corn picking units to remove ears of corn from the standing stalks.

In the development of the corn picker art, snapping rolls have been used for some time. Initially, an open face roll was utilized, in which arrangement the ear contacted the snapping roll as the pair of rolls pulled the corn stalk therebetween. Some shelling occurred as the ear engages the snapping rolls. Accordingly, stripper plates were developed and placed in parallel relation over the snapping rolls, the plates defining a slot over the abutting portion of the two snapping rolls. By regulating the dimension of the slot to prohibit entry of the ears and to permit the passage ofthe stalk therethrough, the ears are maintained out of engagement with rolls and thus the undesired shelling is eliminated. Having provided protection for the ears, attention was then directed to the provision of more aggressive snapping rolls, with the aggression being a measure of the ability of the rolls to` positively grasp and displace the stalk material.

Even though the snapping rolls were made more aggressive, being star-shaped in cross section or being constructed with angle members attached to the roll centers to form projections therefrom, the two snapping rolls have normally been adjusted or timed to operate in an intercalated manner. That is, with corresponding projections or extensions on both of the rolls, the rolls were not timed so that the projections would pass closely adjacent each other;

on the contrary, a projection on the one roll would normally pass in the open space between two adjacent projections on the opposed roll. Because the extensions or plate edges on two snapping rolls do not pass closely adjacent each other, there is still a considerable trash load imposed on the equipment. It is in particular to the elimination or minimization of this trash problem that the present invention is particularly directed.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a corn snapping roll conguration substantially more efiicient and less trashy than the conventional prior art types in which the roll projections are disposed in intercalated fashion.

It is a more specific object of the invention to provide a novel snapping roll construction in which the longitudinal working surfaces of the trash rolls define a configuration which substantially enhances the efiiciency of this operation.

Another important object of the invention is the provision of a novel and unobvious snapping roll construction in which, by modification of the timing, the Working channel defined between adjacent portions of the rolls can be varied to optimize performance in different crop and weed conditions.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention are realized, in a preferred embodiment, by providing a snapping roll configuration in which a plurality of channels or plates are affixed to a central shaft portion, the general assembly being similar to that now carried on in this art. In accordance with the inventive teaching, the peripheral or working edge of each plate (i.e., the edge which passes closest to the plates on the opposed roll) are scalloped, or provided with a series of land portions with each pair of adjacent land portions being separated by a Patented July 7, 1964 recessed portion. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the snapping rolls can be mounted in a first manner so that the land portions on one plate of a roll pass adjacent the recessed portions on a plate of the other roll, thereby defining a working channel of serpentine configuration therebetween in which the corn stalk ber is only partially penetrated and the remainder is gently squeezed. The plates may also be mounted on the rolls so that the land portions on one plate pass adjacent the land portions on the plates of the other roll, thereby defining a working channel of bulbous or alternate narrow and wide configurations, with the narrow portions being effective to pinch weeds and pull them through to prevent overloading the machine with trash.

The best mode contemplated for carrying out the invention will now be described. To enable those skilled in the art to make and use the invention, such description is set forth in connection with the accompanying drawing, in the several figures of which like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a pair of snapping rolls constructed and positioned in accordance with one aspect of the inventive teaching;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view, taken along the line 2-2 of FIGURE l, illustrating the positioning of the extensions on the rolls and further depicting the roll assemblies in relation to a pair of stripper plates;

FIGURE 3 is a partial top View, taken on a scale enlarged relative to that of FIGURE l, depecting the configuration of the invention shown in FIGURE l in greater detail;

FIGURES 4 and 5 are partial sectional views, taken along the lines indicated in FIGURE 3, useful in understanding the operation of the invention;

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 but dcpicting another arrangement of the inventive structure; and

FIGURES 7 and 8 are partial sectional illustrations, taken along the lines indicated in FIGURE 6, useful in understanding the operation of this arrangement of the inventive structure.

Structure of the Invention In FIGURE 1 a pair of stripper roll assemblies 10 and 11 are illustrated. Upper roll 10 includes a central portion 12 substantially square in cross section, and this roll is suitably bored at one end to define a bearing receiving portion 13. The other end 14 of roll 10 is suitably machined and splined as 4indicated to receive a gear 15 and a suitable bearing arrangement (not shown). In like manner, the other roll 11 includes a central portion 16 substantially square in cross section, a hollowed-out bearing receiving portion 17, and a splined end portion 18 on which another gear 20 is positioned to mesh with gear i5. Accordingly, when a sprocket or pulley is affixed over either of splined portions 14 and 18, which arrangement is not illustrated because of its conventional and longstanding use, drive to either one of the rolls 10 and 11 is transmitted over the meshing gears 15 and 20 to the other of the rolls.

In accordance with the inventive teaching, snapping roll assembly l0 includes four separate working plates 21- 24. The respective Working plates or extensions are affixed to the square roll 10 by a plurality of bolts 25. It is important to note that the Working surface or longitudinal edge of each plate which is farthest from the center of the row is not continuous, and in the illustrated embodiment includes a plurality of land portions, such as these referenced by numeral 26, interspersed with a plurality of depressed portions, such as those indicated by numeral 27. This scalloped pattern may be produced by starting with a continuous linear extremity along the line of the land portions 26, and stamping or otherwise removing the arcuate cutout portions from the working surface to provide the curved linear recessions in the working edge of each plate. It is further important to emphasize that at each change is direction or discontinuity in the working surface, such as those referenced by numeral 28, a point or arrow-like portion is produced. As will become apparent, it is this particular point-like portion which effectively penetrates only a portion of the stalk, and the remainder or majority of the areas between the adjacent working surfaces gently squeeze the stalk and pull the stalk through.

In an analogous manner, roll assembly 11 includes a like plurality of working plates 30-33 affixed thereto with fastening means, in this embodiment bolts 34. Like the plates on the other rolls, each working plate includes a fastening or tangential portion, such as portion 35 of working plate 30, which is fastened by the bolt means to the shaft itself. Further each plate includes an outer or working portion such as that identified by portion 36 of plate 30. It is the configuration of the outer periphery of the working surface in a direction parallel to the axes of rolls and 11 which contributes substantially to the greatly improved operation of the inventive structure as contrasted with devices in the prior art.

The afiixing of the individual working plate members to the center of each roll is better shown in FIGURE 2, in which the roll assemblies are depicted in relation to a pair of stripper plates 37 and 38. In FIGURE 2, a stalk 40 is shown being pulled by the working surfaces of plates 21 and 30 downwardly between stripper plates 37 and 38 to be dropped on or left rooted in the ground, rather than passing through and fouling the equipment in the corn picking and processing apparatus. An ear 41 is precluded by the stripper plates 37 and 38 from entering the area between the individual working plates.

In FIGURE 3 only a small portion of the opposed plates 21 and 30 is shown. The adjacent edges of these plates cooperate to define a channel 42, which working channel is serpentine in form and fairly uniform in its lateral dimension along the length thereof. The width of the channel is at a minumum value, as referenced by arrow 43, between the curvilinear edge portions which define the respective scallops or recesses of the working peripheries. The maximum dimension is indicated by arrow 44, defined between the lowermost portion of one recess and the land portion on the opposed plate. However, the ratio of the actual distances there depicted (even though the drawings do not necessarily constitute a scale drawing) is approximately 3:4, so that both dimensions are well within a range of values in the same order of magnitude. The same order of magnitude, is used herein and in the appended claims, refers to a range of values from a first value one-fifth that of a reference value to a second value five times that of the reference value.

As noted previously, an important feature of the invention is the manner in which the discontinuities or points provided for the land surfaces meet the depressed surfaces on each working surface to provide a plurality of arrowlike points, referenced by numerals 45-48 in FIGURE 3. These locations are depicted as penetrating slightly into the body of the stalk 50, so that the main body of the stalk is gently but firmly squeezed between the land and depressed portions of the working surfaces, and the positive grasping of the stalk is assured by the combined penetration and squeezing. It is noted that thus a firm seizure is provided in a plane parallel the longitudinal axis of the snapping rolls, whereas the prior art has almost uniformly been directed to the deformation of a stalk as shown in FIGURE 3 in a plane perpendicular to the axes of the snapping rolls. That is, referring to FIGURE 2 the plates 21 and 30, instead of being closely adjacent as illustrated, if adjusted in accordance with prior art teaching one or the other of these plates would be displaced through an angle of 45 so that a serpentine path of the stalk would be provided as it moved downwardly from the stripper plates toward the ground. In contradistinction applicants have provided working surfaces along the peripheries of the plates afiixed to the snapping rolls, thus providing a very long working surface which is practically coextensive with the length of the snapping rolls.

The squeezing action of the working surfaces of the plates is also illustrated in FIGURES 4 and 5, taken at the points referenced by the corresponding numerals in FIGURE 3. Such a squeezing of the corn stalks assures a positive and thorough pulling of the stalks through the stripper plates and downwardly to avoid fouling the mechamsm.

In accordance with an important aspect of the invention, the placement of the working plates on the snapping rolls can be varied to produce the positions of the working edges indicated in FIGURE 6. As there shown, the uppermost plate 30 on roll assembly 11 has been removed and replaced by another plate 51, similar in construction to roll 36 but differing in that the land portions of the working surface are disposed opposite the land portions of plate 21 and the rescessed or depressed segments are likewise positoned across from each other to define a bulbous channel 52. That is, the working channel 52 is comprised of alternate relatively narrow lengths, as referenced by arrows 53, and at intervals widens in a bulb-shaped bay to a lateral dimension referenced by numeral 54. The ratio of minimum to maximum lengths in channel 52 is approximately 1:9, so that the larger dimension is not in the same order of magnitude as the first but is in the second order of magnitude with respect to the minimum lateral dimension of the channel. The second order of magnitude refers to a value in the range of values between 5 and 50 times that of a reference value.

In the conguration depicted in FIGURE 6 the active points 5558 do not effect an appreciable penetration along the length of the stalk or weed, but cooperate to effect a considerable squeezing in the center of the plant as depicted also in FIGURE 7. In the wider or bulbshaped openings in the channel 52, there is only minimal compression or squeezing as shown in FIGURE 8. Not only is the arrangement depicted in FIGURE 6 advantageous where weeds or like problems are encountered, but it is easy to obtain. For example, one of the gears 1S and 2t) in FIGURE 1 can be mounted on the splined shaft and retained by a cotter or other type fastener, for removal to effect a rotation of one or other of the roll assemblies 10 and 11 through 90 before the gear is returned to the meshing position. With the proper staggering of the working plates around the periphery of each roll, a displacement can be effected to change the configuration of the adjacent working surfaces from that shown in FIGURE 3 to the arrangement shown in FIG- URE 6. It is also simple, because of the straightforward mounting arrangement using bolts passing through the plates into the body of each roll, to rapidly demount the rolls and afiix other rolls with the desired configuration of the working surface to obtain the structure shown in FIGURE 6.

While only particular embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, it is evident that modifications and alterations may be made therein. It is therefore the intention in the appended claims to cover all such modifications and alterations as may fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. For use in a corn picking apparatus, a pair of rotating processing rolls, and a plurality of stalk-engaging plates aiiixed to each of said rolls, each of said plates comprising a fastening area for abutting said roll in tangential relation therewith and a working area spaced from said fastening area, said working area including a serrated edge deiining a series of substantially linear land portions, each pair of adjacent land portions being separated by a depressed portion, said rolls being aligned so that at a point in the cycle of rotation the plates on one of said rolls are seriatim co-planar with the cooperating plate on said other roll so that the edges of said plates pass adjacent each other.

2. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which the plates on one of said rolls are oriented with respect to the plates on the other of said rolls so that the land portions on one plate pass adjacent the depressed portions on the cooperating plate.

3. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which the plates on one of said rolls are oriented with respect to the plates on the other of said rolls so that the land portions on one plate pass adjacent the land portions on the cooperating plate.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 702,720 Gernand June 17, 1902 1,225,806 Gronke May 15, 1917 1,421,459 Gritzmacher July 4, 1922 1,665,404 Crabill Apr. 10, 1928 2,604,750 Fergason July 29, 1952 2,716,321 Schaaf et a1 Aug. 30, 1955 

1. FOR USE IN A CORN PICKING APPARATUS, A PAIR OF ROTATING PROCESSING ROLLS, AND A PLURALITY OF STALK-ENGAGING PLATES AFFIXED TO EACH OF SAID ROLLS, EACH OF SAID PLATES COMPRISING A FASTENING AREA FOR ABUTTING SAID ROLL IN TANGENTIAL RELATION THEREWITH AND A WORKING AREA SPACED FROM SAID FASTENING AREA, SAID WORKING AREA INCLUDING A SERRATED EDGE DEFINING A SERIES OF SUBSTANTIALLY LINEAR LAND PORTIONS, EACH PAIR OF ADJACENT LAND PORTIONS BEING SEPARATED BY A DEPRESSED PORTION, SAID ROLLS BEING ALIGNED 